Baby Gifts

I'd been wanting to try out this tutorial for an easy shirred skirt from Creation Corner for a little while now. A baby shower I was recently invited to was a good excuse to get it done. My fabric must have been a lot more lightweight than what was used in the tutorial, because it really gathered up. The first try became a new skirt for my daughter's baby doll. Try number two turned out really well. I added a lot to the width. It still gathered up so the waist looks very small, but it stretches out nicely and still looks gathered. I think this is the perfect alternative to a wide elastic waistband for a little tummy. It keeps the skirt up without being at all constrictive. I embellished some onesies to go with it. Since this was a double shower, for a boy and a girl, I made two more embellished onesies to go with a pair of the baby legwarmers I'd made recently.

Let her eat cake

First birthdays are so fun. There are so many milestones in that first year. It has always been a tradition in my family to get pictures of the birthday baby smashing cake into her mouth. For me that just means a few snapshots in the highchair. As a photographer, my sister takes it to a new level. So, one final post here of my adorable niece enjoying her birthday cake while sporting her birthday bloomers and mostly NOT wearing the birthday hat I made to go with them.

For the bloomers I used McCall's pattern M5834 and added my own cupcake applique. The "frosting" is just a ribbon that I ruffled by sewing a basting stitch down the center. So many of the infant/toddler dress patterns also have a pattern for bloomers. Any of them would work. I think is easiest to put on the applique, ruffles or any other embellishment onto the cut out fabric before you actually sew the sides together.

The cake was made by another talented family member, my cousin Mindy. Just ask if you want her contact info as well.

My girls thought this hat was a pretty fun project. E wants one for her upcoming birthday too... although I was thinking more along the lines of a crown for this little princess. We'll see. We just took a party hat that we bought in a pack from the dollar store, gently removed the elastic, and undid the tab so that we could lay it flat and traced the shape onto a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. Then we used ModPodge to adhere it to the hat. We reattached the elastic and added the rest of our embellishments.

Tutorial: Easy Bubble Dress

Just in case you didn't get enough of this cute little model from my last post, I decided to post one more photo and a tutorial on how to make this dress. This is a super easy thing to sew... basically a tube with straps. To get started, you'll need to have a few measurements of the baby for whom you are sewing: Chest circumference, just under arms, and the length from armpit to knee.

Materials:

3/4" elastic to equal chest circumference + one inch

1/4" elastic to equal chest circumference + 4 inches.

Fabric for straps: Two 4" x 22" strips

Fabric for body:
1.5 x (Chest circumference) = width
armpit to knee measurement + 4" = dress length.
My baby's chest measurement was 20 inches and the knee length was 15 inches, so I cut a rectangle 30 inches by 19 inches.
(With a 45" width fabric, you should be able to get the width with some to spare, so when buying your fabric, purchase by your length+4 measurement above.)

I took a lot of photos to go along with the instructions, so I'm going to try posting the tutorial on Flickr. Follow this link for step by step instructions with photos.
This link will take you the first step, then click on the next photo at the right to get through the rest of the tutorial. Please leave your comments and questions if there is anything you think could be made more clear. Thanks and enjoy!

Swaddle Pod

In addition to Christmas crafting, December was a month full of birthdays and babies being born in my family. I was not good at taking photos before I actually gave the gifts away... but this one is a fun one I thought. It's like an extra large sock, just big enough to slip over a swaddled baby. Lots of photogs are using them in newborn shoots as well. This is the one I knit for my new nephew.

You can see some photos of the cute little guy in the "pod" at Meredith Photography.

Crinkle Monster

I've seen variations of these crinkle/taggie toys all over the internet and when I got an invite to a baby shower I thought I'd try making one myself. I think the imperfections add to it's quirky cuteness.
Minky fur on the front, soft flannel on the back, different textured ribbons around, and a crinkly layer of plastic inside.

More car seat covers

I've made a couple more car seat covers – one for me and one for a friend. I am having a hard time choosing which one I want to keep. I think I'll let her choose. I went for a less bulky bow on these, even though I adored the look of the other. I also tried different snaps on the straps with a lower profile so they would lay flatter. Velcro would probably work too, I just didn't know how durable that would be. On the blue cover I used the same geometric black and white print on the inside, but I really love the larger print I found for the lining of the tan and black cover. The buttons on the blue/brown version are my favorite so be sure to click on the pic for a closer look!

I've had a few requests for my pattern. I will have to send it via snail mail, so email me your mailing address if you are serious.